Enabling scent sampling at a point of sale is a highly effective tool for increasing sales of perfumes, colognes, and other scented products.
Fragrance perfume companies display tester bottles with actual fragrance at counters in cosmetic and department stores. This is very costly due to pilferage and breakage. Sales consultants are also sometimes employed to introduce customers to a fragrance product. This is highly costly and may causes ill-will when the consultants are perceived by shoppers to pressure them or otherwise intrude on their privacy.
The growth of self service stores which sell fragrance products has increased the incidence of problems associated with the display tester bottles which, when left for customers to try, are often stolen. Neither retail stores nor consumer product good companies want consumers to open products or spray their products at the point of sale as is commonly done in the absence of another opportunity for scent sampling. Opening of products at the point of sale makes the product vulnerable to tampering and spillage, creates shortages, and can make the retailers and consumer product good companies liable for any resulting harm. Locking the product in display cases which must be opened by sales personnel upon request defeats the spontaneity which results in impulse purchases.
There are many scent emitting appliances capable of dispersing large volumes of fragrance molecules through a space such as that of a hotel lobby or room, an entire store, or a bathroom.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,888 to Prueter for a Battery Operated Fragrance Dispenser discloses a scent sampler in which a fan is actuated in response to having a shell engage a cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,876 to Oshinsky for a Combined Scent and Audio Point of Sale Display Unit discloses a point of sale display having a tape player for delivering an audio message and a device for delivering a scent.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0226788 by Hrybyk et al. for an Air Scenting Apparatus discloses a basic device having inlet and outlet ports with a scented material in the path between the ports and a fan arranged to draw air into the device through the inlet port after which the air is scented and then expelled from the device through the outlet port.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,030 to McCarthy for Scent-Emitting Systems discloses a device which can deliver a series of different scents, one after the other.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,737 to Benalikhoudja for an Advertising Display with the Diffusion of Scents discloses a rectangular sign for displaying an advertising message. Between the front and rear panels of this sign is a chamber in which compressed air and a scented fluid are mixed. The scented air is then expelled through a port for delivery of the scent to the viewer of the sign.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,691,336 to Westring for Devices and Systems for Dispensing Volatile Materials discloses an apparatus having a rotating tray with compartments that hold various scented materials. A heater is provided which sequentially heats each of the scented materials as the tray brings them into alignment with the heater. A fan is provided to diffuse the scent emitted from the heated material.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,548 to Rodgers for a Residual Free Scent Dispenser and Method discloses a hunting device used for attracting game by emitting a scent. The device has an inlet port, an outlet port, a fan for drawing air from the inlet port through the outlet port and a scented material in the path to the outlet port.
U.S. Patent Publications Nos. 2002/0158351 and 2002/0048530 by Wohrle for a Scent Delivery System disclose a device having several cartridges containing scented fluids seated within pockets in a tray. The materials are heated to form scented vapors which are delivered to the outside of the device by a fan.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0175426 by Schramm et al. for Dispensing of Multiple Volatile Substances discloses a device for emitting multiple scents into a large area such as a room or larger region.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,277 to Nardini for a Fragrance Dispersion System discloses a device which can produce multiple scents in synchronization with an audio or video program. The device has multiple scent ports containing scented materials. Each of the ports is opened and closed by a gate. The audio-visual program controls the opening and closing of the gates to release the desired scents at the appropriate time in synchronization with the program. A fan is present for expelling the scented air to the exterior of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,118 to Huffman et al. for an Olfactory Card discloses a device in which a scent is delivered by heating a scented material in response to application of electricity. The application of electricity is controlled by a computer which may have a touch screen.
The foregoing machines are designed to disperse a strong scent into a large area. These devices are not targeted scent sampling machines, but are scent diffusion machines designed to fill a voluminous area with large quantities of fragrance particles or molecules.
Because scent diffusers of the prior art are designed to flood a large area with scent they are unsuitable for use in a small defined space within a retail shopping environment, i.e., where competitive products are being merchandised, as the scent of one brand's product cannot be permitted to penetrate the selling space assigned to a competitor's product. Such scent dispersion machines are, therefore, generally unwelcome in stores offering competitive scented products for sale.
In addition, prior art scent dispersing machines are often cumbersome and too large for placement in the confined shelf and counter areas of retail stores. Their use can also be costly to fragrance product suppliers who must pay, as is often the case, for a share of limited shelf and counter space to sell their products. Filling such space with the relatively large scent dispersion machines of the prior art can result in a need for increased space for the product to be sold assuming that such space is even available.
All the appliances sited in the above patents are self contained products designed to perform the unilateral function of dispersing strong scent to a large group of recipients in a large area. None of these designs are miniature in design or simple enough to be economically incorporated into existing point of purchase displays or collateral in-store advertising programs of the manufacturers of scented products. None of the prior art scent dispersion devices is designed to easily transform conventional point of sale displays to permit scent sampling.